


An Interview With La Coccinelle

by Draxynnic



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: It's the "Marinette sticks up for Chat" trope, but with a twist, featuring in-character speculation of akuma power mechanics, references to Despair Bear and Trash Krakken (Miraculous Adventures comic)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-09
Updated: 2018-06-09
Packaged: 2019-05-20 02:57:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14886336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Draxynnic/pseuds/Draxynnic
Summary: Marinette keeps quiet when the topic of superheroes comes up. After all, she doesn't want people (Alya) looking too closely at why Marinette might be protective of the feline superhero. Besides, it's not like anything she says will make a difference - nobody's going to pay much attention to what a fourteen-year-old thinks of a superhero, and it's not like Chat is going to hear about anything said in the classroom.But Ladybug? Ladybug has the motive. And the means.





	An Interview With La Coccinelle

**Author's Note:**

> While the 'Marinette stands up for Chat in a classroom debate' is cute (and something of a guilty pleasure), I've always felt that it seemed like a risk Marinette would be unwilling to take. She's already had a close call, and she probably wants to avoid anyone, particularly Alya, scrutinising her possible connections to the superheroes too closely. 
> 
> However, that doesn't mean she has to remain silent. Ladybug is, after all, already connected to the superheroes, so for her to have an opinion on them won't draw attention to Marinette. This developed as a result of that thought.
> 
> (I did want to give Nino a stronger role at the start of this, but Alya refused to let him get a word in edgewise.)

Once again, it was taking a lot of restraint for Marinette to hide her grimace from her classmates.

It was already hard enough when she had to fight both her partner and an akuma because Chat had fallen victim to the akuma’s mind-control power, but it was _always_ followed by the same discussion on the next school day. Every. Single. Time.

“I’m just _saying_ ,” Chloe’s shrill voice split the air. “I swear, it seems like half the time Chat gets mind-controlled and ends up working for the akuma rather than against it.”

“That is statistically incorrect,” Max interjects, not even looking up from whatever project he was working on. “By my analysis of available information from the Ladyblog and other sources, Chat falls victim to akuma control in less than 15% of akuma attacks.”

And every time, she has to fight the urge to speak up in her partner’s defence. As Marinette, she has no reason to speak up to defend Chat. Sure, she’s worked with him once in her civilian form, even been rescued a time or two, but she knows the same is even more true of Chloe as well. She’s had enough close calls with her identity as it is, and she really doesn’t need to be drawing more attention to herself regarding superhero-related matters than she has to.

“Well, obviously the akuma that don’t have mind control powers don’t count!” “If those are the parameters you’re using…” Max’s eyes take on the slightly glazed look of someone performing mental arithmetic for a moment, before they widen in surprise. “Shockingly, Chloe does have a point.”

Chloe lifts her chin in triumph, as Adrien’s head lowers to hit the desk before him. He always tends to keep his head down in these discussions, Marinette has noticed… sometimes literally. Alya, however, is much the opposite, her hand slamming into the desk as she rises to her feet.

“Oh, really? How many of us can say we’ve never been mind-controlled by an akuma? I know I have, and I know for a fact _you_ have, even if most akuma are more interested in punishing you than putting up with you, even as a mind-controlled minion! And we’re not confronting every single akuma like Chat does!”

“Ladybug never gets controlled,” Chloe huffs. “And it’s not like she needs that mangy cat. It’s her Lucky Charm thing that beats the akuma every time. Even when he’s not mind-controlled, most of the time he ends up needing to be rescued by her or gets in the way.”

“Do you even _watch_ the videos? In most akuma battles, the Lucky Charm only works because Chat keeps the akuma distracted or helps to set it up in some way. Where _are_ you getting your information from, anyway?”

“Not from your little hobby-blog. Obviously.” Chloe responds, visually preening at what she obviously considered a well-delivered put-down.

Marinette can’t help narrowing her eyes. Alya’s Ladyblog, for all that it focuses on Ladybug, does at least try to give due credit to the other side of the duo. Not all media outlets extend the same courtesy.

“You know,” Chloe continues, “I really think she’d be better off ditching that alley cat, taking his Miraculous-thingy, and finding a better sidekick.”

“Oh, and I just _bet_ you have someone in mind already!” Alya retorts, sarcasm dripping from every word.

“Well, naturally!” Chloe responds smugly. “I’ve done more to help her without superpowers than that mangy cat.”

Nino nudges Adrien with his elbow, speaking in a voice loud enough that it’s clear that Adrien isn’t the only intended recipient. “Hey, at least that way there’ll always be a hero on the scene. After she’s done _causing_ the akuma in the first place.”

If Chloe heard the dig, she showed no sign of recognising it for what it was. “Besides, it’s clear just how hopelessly in love he is with her, but she always just pushes him away. Clearly, she’s only keeping him around out of pity. I’m _obviously_ her favourite.”

Was that a groan? Did Adrien just groan at what Chloe was saying? Marinette wasn’t sure. Maybe it was just her imagination.

“Well, that would explain why she always has a ‘get this disgusting thing off me’ expression on her face when you ambush her into one of your selfies!” Alya snaps back as the opening of the classroom door followed by Mlle Bustier’s sigh signals the end of the discussion. At least for now.

“Again, you two?” the teacher asks, exasperation clear in her voice. “Since you’re both standing, why don’t we start the day with you two saying something nice to one another?” The words ‘for a change’ hang in the air, unsaid, yet still louder than the insincere compliments given to one another by the quarrelling girls. It never works, but Caline’s hope springs eternal.

Marinette picks up her pen and prepares to take notes, but only part of her mind is on the lesson.

While it would be suspicious for Marinette to speak up in Chat’s defence, was it time that Ladybug did?

 

*          *          *

 

Alya simply could not believe her luck. Normally, it took hours of pursuit and competition with established news outlets to get just a couple of questions out of the city’s spotted superheroine.

This time, however, Ladybug had approached her, granting her an interview opportunity she hadn’t had since the Mime. Alya could already see the hit count for the Ladyblog peaking from the questions she’d already asked, although she had learned better than to ask anything which could be seen as prying into her life outside the suit. However, Ladybug had made it clear that there was something she wanted to get out as well, and that promised to be equally juicy.

“So, is there anything that you would like to say to your fans?” Alya asks, offering Ladybug the opening to move the topic to what she was here for.

“There is, actually.” The heroine steeples her fingers as she continues. “It’s come to my attention that a lot of people aren’t giving Chat Noir the credit he deserves, regarding him as some kind of sidekick or not an equal member of the team. I’m here to set the record straight.”

“And that record is?”

“Honestly, we wouldn’t be here talking if it wasn’t for Chat.” Ladybug’s eyes focus on some point over Alya’s shoulder, as if she’s thinking back on some specific experience. “Our Miraculouses – the things Hawkmoth keeps raving about – are equal and opposite to one another, intended to be used in concert. I simply wouldn’t have been able to do the things we’ve done without his support. Yes, I’m usually the one that delivers the finishing blow to an akuma,” Ladybug mimes snapping an infected object with her hands before leaning back in her seat, her eyes returning to the camera, “but he’s usually the one who actually makes that possible. Neither of us are inherently more important than the other – we’re at our strongest as a team.”

“But you’re the one that’s actually able to fix the problem in the end. Chat Noir only destroys things, while you’re the one who cleanses the akuma and reverses all the damage that it’s done.” Alya punctuates the statement with an extended finger towards the heroine, before curling it back self-consciously. She felt a little dirty repeating something that Chloe had said in a previous argument, but if this was what Ladybug had wanted to talk about, then she had to have responses prepared for questions she knew would be coming.

“Ah, but that’s because of the unique nature of what we’re fighting.” Ladybug rises to the challenge. “Think of it like…” Ladybug pauses for a moment, and then snaps her fingers, although the effect is ruined somewhat by the material of her suit not making the right sound for the gesture. “…Doorman!”

“Doorman?” Alya asks, a dubious expression on her face.

“Exactly! Most people, when thinking about superheroes and there aren’t local examples like us for them to focus on will think about one of the big names. Majestia, Knightowl, possibly Victory. Doorman’s usually just thought of as… well, a kind of superhero taxi service.”

Ladybug turns her head away from the camera, muttering something under her breath and forcing Alya to strain her ears to try to catch what she said next. Something about a superhero cleaning lady? Maybe the camera picked it up – either way, Alya would be keeping an eye open for dark-haired janitors from now on. “That’s one way of thinking of it?” Alya interjects, bringing the superheroine’s attention back to the interview.

“Oui. Now, imagine that, say, a cult appeared in New York that started summoning demons all over the place. There’s no way to kill the demons – the only way to deal with them is to send them through a portal…” A red-gloved finger makes a flicking gesture at the air, as if she was herself disposing of a particularly diminutive fiend, “…back to where they came from, or at least to somewhere where they can’t easily get back to Earth. What happens then?”

Alya blinks in understanding. “Then Doorman becomes the most important hero. Majestia, Knightowl, all the others… it doesn’t matter how impressive they are or what they could do in other situations, all they can do is set things up for the demon to get pushed through one of Doorman’s portals. If Doorman isn’t there, all they can do is contain things until he arrives.”

Ladybug beams. “And that’s how it is with the akumas. Since Chat can’t purify them, that means that, under the specific circumstances we’re dealing with, I’m the more important of us by default. We saw what happens when I don’t purify the akuma… with Stoneheart…” Ladybug’s voice trails off, obviously still a little bit embarrassed by her first failure, before rallying herself and continuing. “But it doesn’t mean that we should think less of Chat just because I’m the more important one right here and now, any more than we’d consider Majestia to be Doorman’s sidekick in the hypothetical I just described.”

Alya nodded in understanding, but she’d been in enough of the discussions Ladybug had referred to in order to know what had to be asked next. “Then how would you respond to the people who say that Chat gets mind-controlled so often that he’s actually more of a hindrance than a help?”

“C’est n’importe quoi!” comes the heated response. “First, it really doesn’t happen that often, and his help has been indispensable against most of the akumas we’ve faced. Second… well, remember that Doorman scenario?”

“Oui…?” Alya questions.

“Most of the time it happens, it’s because, one way or another, he’s taken the hit so that I’m still able to finish off and purify the akuma. Doesn’t just happen with mind control effects either. It’s bad, but better than if _I_ was the one to fall under the akuma’s control. While with Princess Fragrance, he had to confront the akuma alone for an extended period, and because I wasn’t there, he wasn’t able to go on the offensive because if he did release the akuma it would only have made the problem worse. It was one of those situations where he had to get lucky every time and the akuma only had to get lucky once.” She gives a small shrug, as if to mirror Chat’s helplessness in the situation. “He did well holding out, and protecting the Prince, as long as he did.”

“Ah, but many people point out that the ease at which you deal with him when he’s been mind-controlled by an akuma as evidence that you’re so much better than him that he’s more of a sidekick than a partner.” Alya raises her index finger and waggles it at the ceiling as she responds, delivering her interjection in the tone of a reporter who thinks she’s caught the interviewee out… but she hoped Ladybug would recognise from her expression that Alya was merely feeding the superheroine material for her next line. _You’ve got this, girl!_

“That’s because mind-control victims are _stupid_.” Ladybug’s scoff did not disappoint. “They’re almost like zombies – no grasp of tactics beyond simply charging at their target unless ordered directly by the akuma, and easy to trick into doing what _I_ want them to do. Chat in his own mind is smarter than that, and would be a much tougher proposition. I’m still better than him, of course…” Ladybug gives the camera a cocky expression accompanied by an airy wave, “…but I’m not sure I’d want to bet too much on the outcome.”

“Except that in those situations, you also manage to defeat the akuma without Chat. Doesn’t that mean you could do without him, as people say?”

“That’s because, if you avoid being mind-controlled and get past their army, mind-control akumas are usually pretty straightforward.” Ladybug responds, returning to a matter-of-fact tone. “If they’ve got the ability to mind-control an army, they usually don’t have other powers that can make them a pain to deal with. Such as teleporting through screens,” Alya winces at the reminder, “or being invisible, or creating illusions, or any of the other complications that solo akuma can present.”

“It’s like…” Alya’s expression turns thoughtful, “…each akuma only has a certain amount of power, and being able to mind-control an army is expensive, and doesn’t leave much for other abilities.”

“That’s… one way to think about it.” Ladybug appears taken somewhat aback by Alya’s observation. “There have been some that were dangerous without the army, but… Pharaoh could only access one power at a time, so that might have had something to with it. Darkblade was a master fencer without being akumatised, so the akuma itself probably didn’t need to enhance him much there. And Kung Food could only mind-control those who ate the soup that his target ruined…”

“Sympathetic magic!” Alya exclaims, continuing as she registers Ladybug’s puzzled expression. “Like voodoo dolls – it’s supposed to be easier to work magic on something if you have some sort of connection to it, such as that soup. Kung Food’s mind control might have required less energy because it relied on that principle, rather than being able to mind-control just anyone.”

“Oh! That might explain Puppeteer, too…” Ladybug ponders aloud. “She needed those dolls, but once she had them, she could revert someone into an akumatised form, giving her a much more powerful minion than the akumas usually get.” Alya nods, thinking about all the speculation this was likely to spark on the Ladyblog. “But to come back to the point… while it’s certainly possible that I could take on most akuma on my own, I don’t think I’d have made it through this many without Chat at my back. Whether it’s fighting the akuma directly, holding off its minions so I have the chance to defeat it one on one, or, yes, taking a hit so I’m still in a position to fight. I’d have been a goner more times than I care to think about if I didn’t have my _partner’s_ support.” A noticeable stress on the word ‘partner’ makes it clear just how Ladybug views their status.

“Speaking of partners…” Ladybug braces herself at Alya’s cheeky grin. “…just what do you really think of your handsome feline?”

Ladybug gives Alya a flat stare, evidently seeing exactly where Alya was going with this. “Our relationship is purely professional, and I wish people would stop assuming otherwise.”

-Meanwhile, in the Agreste mansion-

“See! Purely professional, she said! Now, if you really insist on chasing girls around when you could be enjoying cheeeeese, what about that girl you danced with at the party? Don’t you think there might be something therrrrre?”

Adrien sighs. “She’s just a friend, Plagg. Besides…” the secret superhero perks up with a smile as he closes the interview, reverting to the standard Ladyblog background. “My Lady doth protest too much, methinks.”

**Author's Note:**

> “C’est n’importe quoi” is apparently a French expression for describing something that’s completely ridiculous. My French is so rusty it’d break even on light use, but I went searching for something that would be a French equivalent to the phrase “that’s a load of old cobblers”.
> 
> "Oui" is French for "yes". Figured I'd mix in a bit of regional flavour. Whether I'm using it the way a native French-speaker would, I'm not sure. See above comment on rustiness.
> 
> Incidentally, while looking around, I also came across the tidbit that the French tend to regard excessive open-mouthed smiling as a sign that the smiler is either being duplicitous or lacking in intelligence. So those big silly grins that Marinette tends to sport when she’s flustered by Adrien? Are even more embarrassing than they look to English-speakers.


End file.
